# Shadow vs Spellar AI

Shadow records 17,796 monthly visits with -4.4% month-over-month growth and Freemium pricing. Spellar AI records 293 monthly visits with -95.1% growth and Freemium pricing.

| Metric | [Shadow](https://openaitools.app/tool/shadow) | [Spellar AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/spellar-ai) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Website URL | https://www.shadow.do | https://spellar.ai |
| Categories | AI Meeting Assistant, AI Transcription, AI Note Taker, AI Summarizer | AI Note Taker, AI Meeting Assistant, AI Copilot, AI Summarizer |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Monthly Visits | 17,796 | 293 |
| MoM Growth Rate | -4.4% | -95.1% |
| Primary Market | United States | United States |
| Direct Visits | 7,167 | 114 |
| Review Score | 4.3 | 4.4 |
| Saved Count | 1 | 2 |
| Supported Platforms | Website | Website |

## Shadow

Shadow starts from a complaint many knowledge workers share about meeting assistants: the bot that joins your call, the note-taker that locks your history behind a subscription, and the data that leaves your machine for someone else's servers. Shadow's answer is a native Mac app that operates entirely in the background. It has no bot that joins the meeting, auto-detects when a call begins, records and transcribes it locally, and stops on its own when the call ends. Speaker identification is done in real time, so transcripts arrive labelled with who said what.

The output is deliberately portable. Every meeting is written to your Mac as Markdown — transcripts, notes, and Skill results — with every call and every person linked into a knowledge base. You can open the folder as an Obsidian vault, sync it with iCloud Drive or Google Drive, search it with Spotlight, or point any AI agent at it. Shadow emphasises that there is a built-in advantage: because agents read the raw files rather than a connector's filtered view, tools like Claude, Codex, or OpenClaw get the complete context.

Between calls, Shadow is more than a note-taker. Press a keyboard shortcut on any screen and it can see what you're looking at, hear what you say, or read selected text, then run an Action Skill to produce an email, a set of notes, or code. Skills are just prompts you can edit or write from scratch, and a webhook can forward results to Zapier, n8n, or Make. The privacy stance is equally concrete: transcription is local, audio does not leave the device, meeting content is never used for model training, and you choose which Skills are allowed to call AI at all.

**Pricing & Plans:** Shadow is free to start, and the developer's stated policy is that every meeting is saved to your Mac as Markdown with no history limit on any plan — you keep the files even if you stop paying. For current paid tiers, check the pricing page inside the app.

- **Bot-free auto recording:** Shadow detects when a call starts, records automatically, and stops at the end — no bot in the meeting, nothing to remember to press.
- **On-device transcription:** Transcription runs on your Mac, with real-time speaker identification so you always know who said what.
- **Markdown you own:** Every call is saved as a clean .md file locally, openable as an Obsidian vault, backed up with iCloud or Drive, or searchable by Spotlight.
- **Meeting and Action Skills:** Run prompts on a completed call (notes, BANT, follow-ups, summaries) plus shortcut-driven actions on your screen between meetings.
- **Webhooks and automation:** A webhook pushes transcripts and Skill results into Zapier, n8n, or Make so meetings feed your existing workflows.

**Strengths:** No bot joins your call, so meetings stay natural; Local, on-device transcription with no history limits; Meetings stored as portable Markdown that works with Obsidian and AI agents; Flexible Skills you can edit or write from scratch

**Limitations:** Mac-only — there is no Windows or web app; Local-first storage means you manage your own folder, sync, and backups; By design it records without a bot, so you are responsible for getting consent from other participants; Skill output quality still depends on prompt craft, though Skills ship with sensible defaults

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/shadow.md)

## Spellar AI

Spellar AI approaches meeting recording from the privacy side first. Instead of sending a named bot into your Zoom, Google Meet or Teams call, the app captures audio locally on your Mac, iPhone, iPad or in Chrome, so participants never see an unknown attendee in the list. Server-side transcription is presented as opt-in rather than the default, retention is configurable from one day to ninety days, and the Mac app can be set to local-only.

The second half of the product is what happens after the call. Spellar transcribes and then structures the conversation using the AI model you pick for that meeting: Claude for nuanced writing, GPT for reasoning, Gemini for long context. Choose per meeting, per template or per question, or bring your own API key. More than thirty built-in templates cover standups, 1:1s, retros, sales discovery and customer interviews, and custom templates can be written in plain language.

Finally, notes are pushed where work actually happens. Fifteen native connectors cover Notion, Linear, Slack, Jira, Google Docs, ClickUp and Asana, with two-way sync that pulls tasks back from Linear and Jira. There is also a cross-meeting chat that answers questions with cited sources linked back to the moment something was said, plus automated weekly and monthly recaps delivered by email.

**Pricing & Plans:** Freemium with a free tier and paid plans starting from about $15 per month covering all devices and included AI models. A 14-day money-back guarantee and cancellation any time are advertised, and you can bring your own API key for unlimited usage instead of relying on the included allowances.

- **No bots in your call:** Records locally on Mac, iPhone, iPad or Chrome, so no recording bot ever appears in the participant list.
- **Claude, GPT and Gemini included:** Switch AI model per meeting, per template or per question, or plug in your own API key for unlimited use.
- **30+ smart templates:** Structured outputs for standups, 1:1s, retros, sales calls and interviews, plus custom templates in plain language.
- **Chat with every meeting:** Ask questions across all notes and get cited answers that link back to the exact moment in the transcript.
- **15 native connectors:** Push summaries and action items to Notion, Linear, Slack, Jira and more, with two-way task sync.

**Strengths:** No bot joins your calls, which avoids awkwardness with clients and external guests; Choice of premium models including Claude, GPT and Gemini at no extra subscription; Strong output pipeline with 30+ templates and 15 native connectors; Cross-meeting chat with cited, source-linked answers

**Limitations:** Full local-only transcription is tied to the Mac app, so it is less complete on the web or Chrome; Relying on included model allowances has limits, and heavier users may need their own API key; A large feature set means onboarding takes longer than a simple recorder

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/spellar-ai.md)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do Shadow and Spellar AI compare in monthly traffic?

Shadow has 17,796 monthly visits, while Spellar AI has 293. Traffic estimates describe audience size, not product quality.

### How do their growth rates compare?

Shadow has a month-over-month growth rate of -4.4%; Spellar AI has -95.1%.

### How does pricing compare?

Shadow: Freemium. Shadow is free to start, and the developer's stated policy is that every meeting is saved to your Mac as Markdown with no history limit on any plan — you keep the files even if you stop paying. For current paid tiers, check the pricing page inside the app. Spellar AI: Freemium. Freemium with a free tier and paid plans starting from about $15 per month covering all devices and included AI models. A 14-day money-back guarantee and cancellation any time are advertised, and you can bring your own API key for unlimited usage instead of relying on the included allowances.

## Alternatives

| # | Tool Name | Monthly Visits | MoM Growth Rate | Pricing Model | Summary | Profile (Markdown) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1 | [Otter AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/otter-ai) | 7,360,981 | +9.6% | Freemium | AI meeting agent that transcribes, summarises, and turns every conversation into searchable knowledge | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/otter-ai.md) |
| 2 | [Tactiq](https://openaitools.app/tool/tactiq) | 6,521,542 | +4.1% | Freemium | Live meeting transcription and AI notes without a bot in the call | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/tactiq.md) |
| 3 | [Fathom](https://openaitools.app/tool/fathom-2-0) | 5,620,385 | +0.2% | Freemium, Free Trial | AI notetaker that records, transcribes and summarizes meetings — bot-free | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/fathom-2-0.md) |
| 4 | [Fireflies.ai](https://openaitools.app/tool/fireflies-ai) | 4,411,502 | +3% | Freemium | AI teammate that records, transcribes and summarizes every meeting | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/fireflies-ai.md) |
| 5 | [Read Speaker Coach](https://openaitools.app/tool/read-speaker-coach) | 4,071,302 | -4.8% | Freemium, Paid | Meeting summaries, transcripts, and AI search that turn meetings into outcomes | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/read-speaker-coach.md) |
| 6 | [Bluedot](https://openaitools.app/tool/bluedot) | 546,739 | -5.4% | Freemium | Bot-free AI note taker that captures and summarizes every meeting | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/bluedot.md) |
| 7 | [Noota](https://openaitools.app/tool/noota) | 283,526 | +3.3% | Freemium, Paid, Contact for Pricing | Bot-free AI meeting assistant hosted in Europe | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/noota.md) |
| 8 | [Circleback](https://openaitools.app/tool/circleback) | 272,906 | +12.5% | Free Trial | AI notetaker and company brain that turns every meeting into searchable knowledge | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/circleback.md) |
| 9 | [Fellow](https://openaitools.app/tool/fellow) | 188,722 | -5% | Contact for Pricing | The secure AI meeting notetaker built for teams that cannot get privacy wrong | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/fellow.md) |
| 10 | [Bubbles](https://openaitools.app/tool/bubbles) | 148,424 | +2% | Freemium, Free Trial | Always-on AI meeting notetaker with a self-erasing screen replay | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/bubbles.md) |

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Source: https://openaitools.app/compare/shadow-vs-spellar-ai

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